Answer: This can be explained through the conflict perspective since there is obvious prejudice among the members of the LGBT community in the Philippines. Because of our religious leanings which shaped our culture as well as our society (which do not necessarily condone homosexual relationships), Filipinos in general tend to oppress the LGBT community even if it means limiting them of their rights. Despite the Filipinos’ opinion regarding homosexuality—which is being more acceptant overtime—most of them are still against same-sex marriage since they believe that this is immoral (marriage is sanctimonious and is shared by a MAN and a WOMAN) as well as a disruption of the social order.
In contrast, the United States were against same-sex marriage for the longest time but started to consider legalizing it because of some factors such as, but not limited to: 1) They are not as religious as Filipinos; 2) There are more members of the LGBT+ community in the United States, especially those in established same-sex relationships; and 3) The community holds more power since they have garnered more support from people, thus giving them the capability to encourage social change. 2. Annulment is allowed in the Philippines BUT not divorce.Answer: Marriage is held sacred in the Philippines because of our Catholic background. We deem marriage as important because it unifies two people to create a social unit, namely, a family. This can be seen through a functionalist perspective, wherein the family’s function is to become the most basic unit—for procreation as well as for them to pay off taxes to keep the government running. The functionalist perspective may interpret that every part of society has a function in order to keep everything in place and if the most basic unit of society can be permanently severed through divorce; it might pose a problem that other social institutions did not help the couple to save their relationship. Divorce also poses another problem—how the properties are divided through both parties, as well as the custody of their children.
Annulment, on the other hand, dissolves the marriage as if it was nothing (unlike divorce which breaks the marriage) which means that both parties can start over again without disrupting the social order.3. The Philippines as the texting capital in the world.Answer: There are a lot of factors which can account to the Philippines’ enthusiasm on texting (or communicating in general). In an interactionist perspective, we can look why Filipinos text a lot. For one, messages can mean the only way to communicate with their loved ones abroad since there are a lot of Filipinos abroad because of the desire to be financially well-off (also, texting tend to be more inexpensive than internet use).
Filipinos’ tend to miss their family members and loved ones abroad, thus, the messages can be looked beyond their actual message as a message of hope and love and wishing for them to come back home. This can be also applied when it comes to friendships and romantic relationships wherein we do not even insist on knocking or ringing up doorbells in front of houses but we had rather text them to inform them that we are already at their house. It can be interpreted as a sign of attention, social cohesion (despite friends being apart from each other), and consistent communication.
